With our attacking deficiencies it would be foolish to bring in two centre backs in my opinion. We can get by with our defence, but we can't do the same with our attack.
Victor Lindelöf
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With our attacking deficiencies it would be foolish to bring in two centre backs in my opinion. We can get by with our defence, but we can't do the same with our attack.
I don't think we need loads of new defenders, but I do think we need 1 CB who is signifcantly better than our current ones, someone who will lead the defence, be the rock it's based on, our own version of Kompany/Terry/Ramos. We used to have that with Jaap Stam, whoever you put next to him, the defence looked rock solid.
You are right though, we need to focus on strikers, creative wide players and a holding midfilder rather than another defender.
The entire population of Portugal could claim it's a done deal and I still wouldn't believe it.
Surely 1 of the 5 have to be relatively reliable? I wouldn't mind Lindelof here though, as he's decently comfortable as a LCB, so should be able to play alongside Bailly (or at least be able to switch with Rojo there). He has also played as a RB for Sweden and I believe he used to play CDM in the youth set up, so he's versatile in that sense. He's obviously not tested as a CDM, but given how comfortable he is on the ball, he'd be at least a better CDM than Jones.
That's quite a value buy in my opinion if it's true and he can only get better as he's still only so young. Better than spending 50-60m on VVD
Thought we were getting a Lindelof/Semedo package. Was much more excited about that
Van Dijk is also only 25, but is a physical beast and has the tag PL proven on him. For 50m, i would take him, but if it goes to 60m, there is not so much value anymore
I have strong doubts as to whether we're actually in for him and this is just Benfica leaking stories to the media. They seem to have a habit of doing this to drive the price up.
If they were leaking it to drive the price up I feel like reported price would be much higher. This seems different for that reason alone.
I'll never believe we're signing a Benfica player until I see the BBC report.
If 5 papers are saying independently it is close to be done/deal done, that is the best chance we have got this deal will be done. If this doesnt go through, they can just close their offices
They way it works is one decides to write fiction because there are no available facts to fuel a proper story, the others read said fiction, take it as a source and repeat said fiction. So soon every paper reports it as news. Some times the nonsense is from the players agent but the portugese clubs need to sell players every year, its a huge chunk of their revenue.
No one watches Portugese football save when they play in europe so in order to boost the profile of their players and try to market them as stars, the clubs get media outlets to publish endless junk to get name recognition for their players. Remember junk like gaitan or garay? How many people have watch them play 5 matches, yet everyones heard of them.
Lindelof doesnt seem very good, he isnt very fast, he doesnt have beautiful long range distribution, its hard to assess his defending in the lousy portugese league (this is the league that spawned junk like mangala), im not even sure we are really interested given the journalists with access to woodward are silent about him, all we know is benefica sure want to sell him.
Exactly this
Semedo definitely looks the more exciting out of those 2
Let it be the BBC as we need extra trustful source when talking about Benfica players.
The number of papers reporting it can't be read into. They'll be seeing the story elsewhere and running with it.
Not to mention it's the Portuguese press. They seem to be the worst of the lot.
Not to mention it's the Portuguese press. They seem to be the worst of the lot.
VvD is quality though...he could be almost Ferdinand good at the right club.
He is approaching his absolute prime, so his age is perfect.
The injury thing - that is definitely risky.
Of the 3, I'd prefer Van Dijk - EPL proven and in his prime.
Lindeloff is my least favourite.
I am happy to pay a premium for EPL proven players. If we buy such a player, especially in his prime, he should be able to make immediate impact, from game 1.
If you buy a young player, there will be inconsistency and a few years of learning.
if you buy a player with no EPL experience, he may be in shock when he first plays in the EPL. And some players never recover from that shock. Rojo recovered. Memphis didn't.
Rojo turned out ok. Lindelof is younger, but he's not expected to make an immediate contribution as a starting 11; just adequate cover for injuries/rotation.
At the end of day it is just Football. They play Football in the Premier League and they also play Football in the Primeira Liga. I really do not think the change is that drastic. And the PL is dominated by foreign players and managers so many did make the transition.
35 million €? What? 
20 would be more appropriate.
20 would be more appropriate.35M euros isn't insane by any stretch. He's almost 23 so has plenty of time to improve/be in his prime. Honestly don't think it's bad business if it does happen and Mourinho usually chooses his CBs quite well.
Could be an option at free kicks too
I think the price is slightly over the top even though prices in general have gone absolutely mad of lately. An honest estimated value would be somewhere in the region of 23m euro. However there's always going to be that Man United tax that only we have to fork up because we are known to pay stupid money for players we want. I bet Barca could have bought him for about 15m euro + some random youth player.
I actually think its pretty good deal given the potential he has shown so far. If he lives up to half of it, it would be a steal.35 million €? What?
The market is crazy this summer with semedo rumored to be going for 50m euros
Go watch how mangala struggled in the premier league. The step up in physicality and speed of the game is very real. A skill/situation which you used to have 1 second to perform/assess you now have half the time to do. Some players can learn to think fast enough some cannot. On the continent, any physical pressure on the player trying to control the ball is usually a foul, in the premier league, its considered challenging for a loose ball. The ability to control the ball without pressure and to control the ball when under physical pressure is hugely different. It requires a big jump in technique. Portuguese league is very poor, bebe actually became a decent player there. Trying to translate a players ability in a weak league to a stronger one is an art, and theres always an element of guesswork.
Not a personal attack on you or Van Dijk as I think he is a good defender and at the end of the day we shouldnt even care about fees....but happy to take him for 50m, the premiership really has gone mad hasnt it, reading of 50m for Djik, Lukaku for 100m even Barkley for 40/50m, not that any are bad players, they are all pretty good, but no other clubs in Europe would go anywhere near those players for the fees being mentioned.
Well The PL is rich, so you buy the best you can get. I would rather spend 50m on van Dijk then some CB from Portugal for 35m. If you cant get the top CBs, you go for the ones underneath them and we have the money. Saving 10m or 20m here or there for lower quality isnt worth it
The same way City spent 56m on stones? Following your thinking, we would have been better off paying 50m for Van Dijk than getting Bailly for 38m.
The average PL player is simply overrated and overpriced, and there is better value to be found in other leagues.
If there's anyone who can spot a good CB it's Mourinho. So chill out. In the type of football we play you don't need fantastic CBs anyway.
We are the richest club in the world, we shouldn't be looking for value, we should be looking for the best available players. If that means paying a premium over the second or third best player then so be it.
So you think Van Dijk and stones are better than Bailly?
No he is not, and Mourinho thought highly of Stones and wanted him at Chelsea
Dunno who is but knowing Mourhinho would have approved (and how badly we need some stable CB's) I'm glad with this news.
Injuries, suspensions. We need a deep squad. Applies to both attack and defense.
Yeah true, same token I would rather spend 30m on a centre back that is better than DIjk and attainable, dont ask me who though but look at Bailly as an example. See so many posts with peoples in depth opinions on players we are linked with who are kind of known, such as players in portugal (lindelof...I have barely seen him) from people who have seen them play in the league so many times...yet these same people never seem to mention other unknown players we should go for. Smacks of people that havent seen what they talk of to me.
I agree with you in that obtainable players, certainly within our league Djik is one of the better ones, but I would hope our scouts are recommending better players that are cheaper just due to the market. Whether that is Lindelof I can say I have no clue as barely seen him, but I have seen players like Romagnoli of Milan who would probably cost less, certainly no more and for me is a better player with the bonus of leadership otential we need. SAying that the money Milan now have that may not be an option anyway. I think there are better centre backs out there for less, not proven with the premiership maybe, but I do think signing a centre back we have to sign a proper world class potential one, I dont think Dijk is personally.
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